Thursday, April 26, 2012

Jeffrey Miron: Idiot of the Day

Anti-bribery laws hurt U.S. companies! Do away with the law then...boohoohoo

What a moron.

public and policymakers should also consider whether the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act is good policy. And despite good intentions -- particularly, the goal of reducing corruption -- it is not.

The act is difficult to enforce on a consistent basis, since companies that wish to pay bribes can circumvent the law in numerous ways, mainly with minimal risk of exposure. So, most violations go undetected. The act therefore hurts companies that break the law clumsily and get caught, thereby creating a competitive advantage for companies that break the law cleverly and get away with it.

The most likely outcome is therefore that the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act has minimal impact on bribes but enriches the least honest companies. And if the act deters bribes by U.S. companies operating abroad, that is even worse.

Read more here.

4 comments:

usha.digitalinfo said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
usha.digitalinfo said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
usha.digitalinfo said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
usha.digitalinfo said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.